Maybe B Started Something?

It all started with this picture…

 
Bomb Wal-Mart
Originally uploaded by Editor B.

Editor B shooting footage of people at a peace rally, I believe, with a piece of paper attached to his camera with the question, “Bomb Wal-Mart?”

Today somebody took that thought provoking question one step further and called in a bomb threat to the local Wal-Mart.  The first thing that came to my mind was the picture above.

The matter was taken very seriously, and the place was evacuated.  The employees were sent to the Murphy USA gas station nearby (good place to go when there is a possible bomb).  The store has now been closed for almost 6 hours, with word that it will re-open “within the hour.”

“Lunch Hour Shopper” left a comment on the Herald-Times website that I found quite interesting.  It states that, “I was there when it happened. They came over the intercom and said “attention all associates and customers, we have a code blue. thank you” and that was it! Like we all know what a code blue is.  Doesn’t that mean a sale at KMart! Some employees just left their cash registers with customers standing there. Then some other associates started telling people to leave.”

So I take it that it’s Wal-Mart’s policy to not give a damn about their customers during a emergency situation.

As a Wal-Mart shopper (I’m not a fan, just doing what I gotta do.) it seems like a good thing to do with the weak US economy today.  Wal-Mart is now nothing more than the quickest way to get to China or in some cases Vietnam.

No I don’t think it’s B’s fault, but that question brings up very serious philosophical questions.  Especially in financially trying times like these.

Wal-Mart expected to reopen soon

By Marcela Creps
331-4375
mcreps@heraldt.com
June 12, 2008

A search of the Wal-Mart Supercenter turned up nothing after it was searched by dogs trained to sniff out explosives.

At 5:20 p.m., Monroe County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Scott Mellinger said the store would reopen within the hour as workers waited for a bus to take them from Sam’s Club back to Wal-Mart.

Two dogs were used to search the building. Van Buren Township Fire Department Chief Tim Deckard said one dog had been searching, but it is required to search for 20 minutes then take a 20 minute break. With such a large area to cover, the Monroe County Sheriff’s office called for and received a second dog trained to sniff out explosives.

Emergency officials were dispatched at 12:23 p.m. to the store on Ind. 45 just east of Curry Pike.

Sheriff’s deputies and fire department vehicles blocked all the entrances as shoppers and workers were evacuated. A Bloomington city bus was called to transport workers to Sam’s Club

Mellinger said it was unknown what the caller said when the bomb threat was made. He said phone records are being searched, but the call was not taped. He said the phone company would be providing a list of incoming calls within the next 24 hours. After that, Mellinger said it would be “like searching for a needle in the haystack” to find the caller.

The 213,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in October 2006.

Deckard said that despite the large emergency vehicles blocking all the store’s entrances, it hadn’t stopped customers from trying to enter the area.

He asked that area residents be patient. He said some customers have complained that the call was probably a prank.

“We can’t take that chance,” Deckard said. “We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to make sure it’s safe. It’s a public building.”

This story will be updated.